


Rainbow Laughter

by Yui_Miyamoto



Category: Tokyo Babylon, X -エックス- | X/1999
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on LiveJournal, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-08-23
Updated: 2009-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28444806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yui_Miyamoto/pseuds/Yui_Miyamoto
Summary: Before Kakyou revealed himself, who’s to say he didn’t appear to Hokuto before that?
Relationships: Kuzuki Kakyou/Sumeragi Hokuto
Kudos: 1





	1. 1 / Red – Please stay behind the yellow line as the train is approaching…

**Disclaimer – This title doesn’t belong to me but I love its characters too much to stop writing for it!!!  
** _  
Remember that time in the park  
Where all the bubbles floated in the sky,  
In unison making  
Multiple rainbows?  
  
You made fun of me for being a dreamer  
And I frowned at you being a realist.  
I kept scrunching up my eyes,  
Thinking, “Surely, this dream  
Will come true!”  
You were just folding your  
Arms and looking at me  
As if I’d lost my mind.  
A little smile  
Entered that eternally stoic face.  
  
I felt a twinkle within me  
As I spread out my arms  
As if the bubbles  
  
All came from me;  
Then, I turned to look back at you.  
  
You were gone,  
And when I was about  
To cry,  
You laughed so hard,  
Hugging me from behind,  
Tickling me back   
Into life.  
  
I surely don’t need that wish now  
Because I have everything,  
I always will._  
  
 **  
Rainbow Laughter.  
By miyamoto yui  
  
1 / Red – Please stay behind the yellow line as the train is approaching…  
**  
Except when the trains were sleeping, that was the only time people weren’t on the platform. Somehow, even when everyone took a small nap, Tokyo was always in perpetual motion. It was always trying to move…  
  
…even when it’s next to nothing.  
  
Standing on the platform, the tall teenager with the short blondish hair held a camera in his hands. Turning slowly on the viewfinder to face the train going towards Ueno Station (opposite from him since he was heading to Shibuya), there was a teenage girl with bright cherry heels rocking back and forth at the approaching green-lined train on the other pair of tracks. She was holding a red and white checkered parasol.  
He was already taking pictures of the brilliant blue sky with the girl tapping her head to the cd tune she was listening to, or was she humming her own song? He didn’t know he was already smiling so much until his face began to hurt.  
  
Clicking away, he thought, “I wonder who or what are you smiling at? Is the rest of the world too serious for themselves?”  
  
Suddenly, she noticed him and smiled even wider.   
In one second, he caught a picture and forgave himself for paying what he did for such a camera.  
  
“Why did I instantly believe in love at first sight?” he mumbled unconsciously.  
  
He tried to look away and averted himself from her direction. He knew he should have stepped into his own train, but his feet wouldn’t allow him. The door closed in front of him.   
  
It was his birthday and as he faced the girl again, he hoped one more glimpse would be his gift this year.  
  
The vinyl red coat moved gracefully as she boarded the train. But when the doors closed, she faced his direction and winked at him with both of her bright eyes.   
  
He took a picture as she waved with a large grin on her face.  
  
Never did he think that he would push away everything he’d ever learned and smirk to salute her with the sign of “I love you” on his fingers.  
  
  
Then, when the Yamanote train left, the dream disintegrated into small particles of gray dust, color gone from a used-up dream as if a cigarette burned it all away. Through the warmth, the crispy wind reminded him that it was still far into Winter.  
  
He was now floating in an empty void watching the train become a dot. And in this very small dot, for the first time in his life, his wish was born.  
  
 **Tsuzuki.../To be continued…**


	2. 2 / Orange - The Flower That Playfully Turned Its Face From The Sun

**Disclaimer – This title doesn’t belong to me but I love its characters too much to stop writing for it!!!  
  
**  
A big blue book with the big white letters “JAPAN” stared at Subaru. On one of those very rare mornings, he was glancing between the blob of ‘food’ and the book which only allowed the parameters of Hokuto’s round face to be seen. His sister, with a yellow bow on the top of her head, pursed her lips as she looked deep into the guide book, the kind of thing that foreigners looked at when they wanted to visit ‘important’ things of the city.  
Without lifting her head up, she scolded, “Subaru, stop worrying over there and concentrate on just cooking.”  
  
He turned his eyes to the ‘omelet’. He bit his lower lip. Poor Subaru was agonizing on why he could exorcise demons but couldn’t understand how much oil and time went into frying an egg though Hokuto made a perfect one next to him, complete with demonstration just five minutes ago.  
  
It was his day off and it was a Saturday in the Spring! The FujiK weather report said it would rain but she went to the shrine everyday that week to pray for sun!!! There was NO POSSIBLE WAY she was going to waste this opportunity to not go somewhere with him! She also invited Seishirou, but would give him the details when Subaru was in the shower and not listening in on the phone call. It was truly a perfect plan even if Subaru could sense her mischievously contriving something!  
  
She giggled to herself proudly and he turned the stove off (and shivered from Hokuto’s laughter as well). While sliding the ‘omelet’ onto a pastel blue dish, he glanced over at the hot pink dish again and blinked his eyes. His sister wouldn’t complain but he wasn’t one to take requests so lightly. She said she wanted an omelet and she never really asked for anything in general so he wanted it to be the best that he could do. It became more lopsided in silent response and he sighed.  
  
Hokuto put the book down and clapped her hands together excitedly. “Breakfast is finally ready! Yippee!”  
Subaru came over with both dishes and sat next to her. He put the pink one on his side and served her the blue one. Hokuto looked at it lovingly in its blotchy form (so it had a few holes and the mushrooms were leaking out of the egg covering) and grinned wider than ever. “Thank you!”  
  
Clapping without waiting for him, she excitedly said, “Itadakimasu!”  
  
At this, Subaru looked at Hokuto and knew there was no one but Hokuto who would love him for everything he was. And for Seishirou-san to come that close was a miracle in itself.  
Hokuto rubbed the top of his head and urged him to eat her omelet.   
  
**+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/+/**

  
Would it be a feat to get to the museum?   
They both looked outside the Yamanote line’s train windows with their own set of anxieties.  
  
Subaru’s one trait that was most worrisome for Hokuto was his ability to get lost no matter how many maps he had with him. Even on his shigoto, he had to look over the maps three times to makes sure he was fine.  
So, when she tested Subaru to read the fax and the Meguro map just outside of the station, he was relieved that there was more than one sign to the Teien Museum. Only a few hundred meters away, they walk towards it and Subaru felt a small sense of foreboding and pushed it away. Hokuto took his arm and turned him to one large clear window of an Italian restaurant.   
  
What a pair they made with their matching outfits! She was wearing a bright yellow dress with a laced hem and the inseams of the folds also had lace. She wore a white apron over it. Her white knee socks went well with the two-inch black penny loafers that had an X over each foot like ballerina slippers. Her white gloves were the same length as Subaru’s. He was holding her orange parasol over them. His outfit looked like a suit with black, long pants except the jacket improv shirt with big orange buttons was short-sleeved. Her plain black shades were on the top of his head to keep some of his bangs away.  
  
The people in the restaurant started to notice them and she tugged his arm to keep walking. Some were shocked and some envied that they could dress so freely.  
“Have you ever been in this area before, Subaru?” Hokuto asked as they waited for the intersection to change lights.  
“Yes…” He trailed off and blushed immediately. “But it wasn’t for a job.”  
“You shouldn’t treat Sei-chan with such formalities, even in a conversation with me.” His sister immediately laughed as they crossed the street. “Besides, I like him! He already pledged his undying love for you.”  
“Hokuto-chan, he is our neighbor. And he’s only known us for three weeks? I don’t think that ‘confession’ is a basis for-“  
She sighed loudly. “He’s perfect! P-E-R-F-E-C-T! Do you know what perfect means?! You’re acting like the girl Oigimi in The Tale of Genji! So obstinate though you like him too!”  
“I can’t help it. Can you take a handsome, young doctor like that seriously with all his jokes and in love with another guy? He’s so…confusing.”   
Hokuto rolled her eyes at his silence. Understatement of the year and yet she knew that the other one was just as perplexed with this one. Whatever was she going to do with the both of them? But she had her ways!   
Trying to be as calm as possible as they strolled along the side of bushes leading to the entrance gate, she suddenly stopped. Without turning her face to him, in a low and serious voice, she simply answered, “I know you, Subaru, but to get something you want, you have to do something you’ve never done before.”  
Then, she let go of his arms and stood in front of him. Her scratchy gloves touched the face that reflected like her own. “For once, to someone besides me, can’t you believe in them? And why not for this person who wants you to?”  
Patting his cheeks, she smiled again and pulled his hand to turn into the entrance gate. There, Subaru took a step back as Seishirou looked at his silver Saiko watch and looked at the trees with his right hand inside his pant pocket. Hokuto put her hand over her mouth happily as Subaru made no gesture to move any closer for the moment as the people passed him to get tickets. He was mesmerized by Seishirou’s gentleness in looking up at the very green trees.  
  
“I knew you would do something, Hokuto-chan,” he mumbled and then looked at her face. When he finally noticed them, Seishirou cleared his throat at being caught in a soft moment.  
  
“Sei-chan!”   
  
Seishirou held up the three tickets he’d already purchased from the ticket booth and Subaru shook his head. Hokuto took her parasol from Subaru and they walked side-by-side along the tar path.  
“Thank you for inviting me along on your outing together. I hope I’m not being a nuisance. I feel really bad about the last time.”  
“Oh, he’ll get over it sometime. Just because he spilled some ice cream in Ueno Park and some on himself doesn’t mean anything, right Subaru?”  
Subaru instantly turned redder than he’d ever before at remembering Seishirou insisting to wipe off his shirt and then ending up buying a new one at the nearest department store. Hokuto just licked her ice cream happily and gave a victory sign behind Seishirou with a thumbs up ‘Good job!’ for not running away.   
Finally, Subaru mumbled in a shy voice, “Thank you for the shirt.”  
  
They went into the garden. It was not big or small, but just right. There were some white lawn chairs as well as benches for people to relax.   
Though she wanted to stay with them, she wanted to take pictures while her brother and their very handsome neighbor walked around together. Already resigned to the obvious, Subaru nodded his head while Seishirou tried his best to explain about the flowers, their origins, and why they were chosen for this particular garden. Subaru seemed a bit interested since he loved nature and didn’t have to worry about explaining his ‘feelings’ for the moment.  
Hokuto nodded her head in approval and was in close enough range to see them from every possible angle yet far enough to let them walk around by themselves. She explored for all the different kinds flowers and plants with much fascination. She took a picture of a rose so tall but it turned away from the sun as if it was embarrassed to show its face fully to it. Occasionally, she took snapshots of Seishirou and Subaru and adjusted it enough to catch Subaru’s dumbfounded expressions. She was glad that Seishirou could make Subaru show the side that only she was able to see all these years.  
  
But there was a nagging feeling. Something told her to come to this garden today. And she could feel that she was coming closer and closer to the reason why she’d been sent here.  
  
While Subaru was leaning over a lavender flower with a big butterfly on it, Seishirou tried his best to take a picture of Subaru. Hokuto went on to a small stony path with a lake beside it with more flowers. It was in front of the white house, which is the museum. But today, she only wanted to see the flowers and there, she kept walking towards an orange one who was so big and inviting! It hardly looked in place with the small and fragile ones, but she took a picture of it because she felt like she wanted to touch its petals with her cheek.  
As she thought of doing so, that feeling hit her sharply and she turned towards the house.   
  
Through the camera, she saw there was an open window and a young man with brownish-blond hair staring at her. She gulped and put the camera down.   
  
Because he didn’t even bother to look away in embarrassment, she knew he was watching her very closely.  
  
Her pager went off and she scrambled to reach for it from her dress pocket. The message read, “I’m sorry I can’t meet with you today.”  
  
Her heart contracted and when she looked up to the window again…  
  
…her eyes opened. She stared into the sunlight filtering into her room. It was Saturday morning and she was still holding onto the “JAPAN” guide book she was reading last night.  
  
Hokuto fell asleep again to see if she could catch him before it was too late…   
  
**Tsuzuki…/To be continued…**


	3. 3 / Yellow - The first time I liked rain.

**Disclaimer – This title doesn’t belong to me but I love its characters too much to stop writing for it!!!  
  
**  
Passing by Subaru’s closed door, she sighed and frowned. Because of his crazy schedule, she met his door more often than she saw him. It was not something she discussed with him at all because he had his own troubles. After all, much of the family prestige and its income came from his special position and shigoto.  
  
There were only a few things she could do for him, so even if the world said she spoiled him, as his sister and acting mother on this side of Japan, she knew more than anyone what he carried within him. Still, there was so much more she knew she didn’t.  
  
Fixing the white laces of her shiny, light blue rainboots, she hit her own face. At all times, she must smile! There was much happiness in the world and to miss a second of it only invited missed opportunities!  
She left the entrance of their apartment building and finally decided to go shopping. When all else failed, she always went to Ikebukuro.   
Opening up her dark plastic blue umbrella with small, chubby penguins on it, someone familiarly called out, “Hey you.”  
“Hey! What are you doing here?” She glanced at her rainbow-colored Switch watch. “It’s only 4pm!”  
Lifting up his umbrella a bit higher, he explained, “It’s raining so hard that I don’t think anyone’s coming to the clinic today so I thought I’d come home early. Where are you heading off to?”  
“My favorite place! Ikebukuro!”  
“Mind if I tag along?” The rain was pounding and she found his childish manner very charming.   
“Of course!”  
  
With that, he closed his umbrella and took hers without asking.   
She elbowed him on their way to Shinjuku station. “Subaru’s not going to meet me there. Still want to go with me?”  
He raised his eyebrows. “You seem to think that I only have an interest in him. How sad.”  
“Mm…” she answered nonchalantly, nor revealing any of her thoughts.   
“You make me want to wet my sleeves in secret, Hokuto-chan,” he teased, lifting up his arm as if it were a kimono of olden times.  
“You won’t have any to cry on if I cut them. You were only appealing because you seemed sincere.”  
  
She really was a magic hat full of surprises. To be able to contend with him as if they were writing poems in the Heian period, he couldn’t help but smirk. So, directly, he asked, “Do you think I am aiming too high, for your brother?”  
  
The rain continued to pour and she just took his hand with her leather covered one. She swung their arms back and forth in between dodging the swarms of people.   
  
“No. In fact, you are probably the only one who would go that high to chase him.”  
  
Hokuto squeezed his hand before they headed into the station and he closed her umbrella.  
Silently, all throughout the ride on the Saikyo line, they held hands tightly. Hokuto puffed her cheeks at the window as she looked out into the heavy gray clouds washing its tears onto the rushing trains. Seishirou looked up at the JR East map solemnly, pretending to be engrossed with reading the stations and being too concerned over holding the two umbrellas properly.  
Since his mother died, he never let another person hold his hand.  
  
Without being conscious of it, he clung onto her hand a little more demandingly. She gave him a curious expression and he didn’t notice at all. It was the first time she saw him this relaxed and with the raindrops clinging to the top of his dark coat, he appeared more dignified than ever.  
  
“The next stop is Ikebukuro station. The exit will be on the left side of the train.”  
  
They stepped out and walked around town. Well, it was Hokuto going to a lot of boys’ love shops and clothing boutiques with Seishirou tilting his head in amusement. Even though he didn’t laugh aloud, he just kept smiling at her actions.  
No matter what season, even with the rain soaking her short skirt and matching blue sport jersey with the number 99 on it, the umbrella seemed out of place for such a pleasing scene.  
  
Thirsty, she announced she’d pop into the convenience store to get something to drink. He answered that he’d just wait outside and wait for her.  
When she went inside, she was greeted with the usual ‘Irrashaimase’ and headed to the drink section. Picking up the seasonal lemon drink she looked forward to every Summer, she swung the bottle around before placing it on the counter to pay for it. When she looked up, the brown-haired, dark-skinned boy didn’t meet her eyes at all and immediately rang up the item to announce its price.   
“Bag or tape?”  
“Bag.”   
She looked at his nametag and then up into his face again while paying.  
He finally catches her wondering eyes and she was even more surprised when he covered her hand to give her the change. Other people had done this to her, even women, but she never felt an electric shock that stunned her to the point that she couldn’t even nod her head. In a daze, she shut and opened her eyes slowly. Then, she quickly left as he shouted, “Thank you for coming!”  
  
“What’s wrong?”   
Her head points towards at the doorway she just exited and gave him a confused look. “Have you ever had someone hold your hand when giving your change?”  
“Many, many times. Young girls can’t help it.”  
“I’m serious!”  
“I am! I mean, when you left me alone, I was defenseless and all these young fangirls started talking to me.”  
Her mouth gaped. “You’re horrible!”  
He shrugged his shoulders and enjoyed her face changing into annoyance. “What did I do now? I was telling you the truth!”  
“You could have at least been more modest about it!”  
“Me?"   
“Oooh…you~!”  
WHACK! She hit him on his left shoulder and he smirked all the same.  
  
With that, she went to buy fabric for a new outfit in Harajuku, but when they reached the station, her alarm beeped relentlessly.  
  
She groaned into her pillow and she had a craving for that lemon drink.  
 **  
Tsuzuki…/To be continued…**


	4. 4 / Green – Keyboard and All.

**Disclaimer – This title doesn’t belong to me but I love its characters too much to stop writing for it!!!  
  
  
** She had always wanted to stop here again whenever she passed by on the Joetsu Line.  
  
There were apartment buildings on each side of the wide river, and on one side, there was a small slope of grass that extended for many, many meters that it seemed not to end when you viewed it from the start of the cemented pathway. It was as if the Summer grass were clinging onto the best of its color and refused to change into Fall, which slowly changed the tree-lined roadway above.   
At the bottom of this small ‘hill’, Hokuto sat down and listened to her cd player while looking out onto Sumida River. To her left, there was a bridge that she felt she had seen a dream many years ago when she was little.   
  
Even though it was cloudy, the day was so bright and comfortable. She dressed in brown overalls and a burgundy t-shirt. Her bracelets were a combination of red, yellow, and green. Her heels were simple, dark green ones.  
  
It was very peaceful and as an occasional boat passed by, she waved at the people. She was taking a book out of her big bag when someone started to play on a keyboard a few meters away from her. Dropping the book back and taking off her dark pink headphones, she turned her head to listen to the musician in front of her.   
Then, she took out some candy drops and ate them.  
  
Her eyes opened a little wide because she already knew the melody, but it wasn’t a song on the radio. How would she know?  
The person with the long reddish-gold hair avoided looking into her direction. His fingers just kept on lustily playing on the piano as if he were to die if he didn’t. The green of the grass and his humming blended together calmly and passionately.   
  
Her heart was beating faster and faster as if the song was meant for her and her alone.  
  
No one came onto the path and the only people who passed them were those on motorboats. Everyone who walked past them were on the path at the top of the slope.  
  
When Hokuto got up, she walked towards him. She wanted to tell him so much that the refrain was very familiar to her, as if it were a song from a past lifetime connecting to this one.  
  
Instead, she found herself throwing one strawberry candy piece to his left side, touching his hip and the grass. Without knowing why, she announced in a mellow voice, “This dream will end soon. I have to wake up soon.”  
  
He stopped playing and turned his head to her with his soft light, brown eyes gazing at her earnestly, yet with a bit of wistful restraint. “Yes, I know.”  
  
She was as breathless as if he had already kissed her.  
  
Unable to step any further, she stood there looking at him and he smiled at her.   
  
  
Suddenly, she turned around when Subaru looked at the both of them on the path and waved. She looked at the man in back of her and he nodded his head in recognizing Subaru. So somehow, the apprehension washed away.  
  
However, while she watched Subaru come over to them, the man was gone, keyboard and all.  
  
She blinked her eyes again and she was staring into the ceiling of her bedroom. Of course, she couldn’t recall the melody no matter how much she tried.  
  
Even at Clamp Academy, her mind wouldn’t let go of the dream for that river was the place where Subaru and she had gone to when they first arrived in Tokyo and pretended that they were ordinary people with no titles or special abilities.  
  
And for someone to make her brother look so relaxed and genuinely cared about the both of them…she would hold onto that dream until she faded from this lifetime.   
**  
Tsuzuki…/To be continued…**


	5. 5 and 6 / Blue and Indigo – The Box of Everything.

**Disclaimer – This title doesn’t belong to me but I love its characters too much to stop writing for it!!! Nobu is mine though!  
  
**  
Since the Fall, she had one other dream. And though a blondish-white, long-haired man had revealed himself to her as one called Kakyou, there was something about the maple leaves that connected with the ones she saw in the dream of the Sumida River.  
  
Were he and the man with the keyboard the same person?   
  
Hokuto had no basis for thinking so, but she longed to see him again, whether in a dream or in real life. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t tried. With some loyal guards, she had sent word to Kyoto to make a trip to Tokyo to do a special task for her. They were the people she kept with her to make the rounds of the acquaintances that soon her brother would know too.  
Her grandmother had not told her exactly why she had to be the representative of the family in Subaru’s place, but she took the task very seriously. And this time, she asked one of her favorites to investigate about the man in her dream.   
Because Hokuto never truly acted impulsively, just as contemplative as her brother, her grandmother agonized if one of the other side had tried to contact Hokuto. Though Hokuto was formidable in every possible way, her grandmother knew there was only so far she could do to protect them. How far was yet to be revealed with time.  
  
The answer that Hokuto got was that the man was someone who was so high profile: All his information was highly classified that even their family could not touch it.   
  
Though she was at a loss on what to do, this was a secret she never told Subaru or Seishirou.   
  
Before, she was the girl who went out on many dates and studied hard at night. Now, February, Hokuto studied hard and after school, when Subaru was working, she roamed all over Tokyo, visiting the same places she had in her dreams. She tried her best to go to as many train stops on all the train lines that she could get on. Though it seemed farfetched, she could feel that same warm glow in her heart sometimes when she stepped into certain areas. Then, instantly like a flicker, it would fade once more.  
  
But every time she went home, she felt so defeated. She could not find Kakyou anywhere.  
  
Then, Valentine’s Day came.   
Clamp Academy was filled to the brim with festivities but although on the outside, she enjoyed it, she looked at Subaru’s empty desk and her eyebrows touched one another. But to make up for it, she had already made her huge chocolate heart for him and she knew without a doubt, Sei-chan would have done some outrageous production to win Subaru over. She was very glad she trusted Seishirou, despite the threats in between.  
  
Hokuto herself was very popular and many people waited for her date card, the one that allowed you to go out with her if she found you worthy. But this year, word got out that no one had received one and wondered if her system extended to people outside of the school.  
  
By the end of the day, she was frustrated with herself. It wasn’t unusual but she was so mad that she believed in this one person she had only met once in a dream.   
  
“In a dream, no less!” she mumbled in frustration to herself as she rushed around cleaning the classroom since it was her day. Her partner, Nobu, erased the white boards and made sure all the confetti was picked up.   
“So, did you give anything to anyone this year?” he plainly asked. He was one of the few people who talked freely with her because he liked that she was straight with her answers.   
Hokuto placed her hand on the broom and leaned her weight to one side to pose. Shaking her head, she sighed, “Nope. No one really stuck out this year. Does it sound bad if I say I’m bored? And how about you? How’s the count this year?”  
He lifted up the paperbags full of chocolates and the like. He grimaced.  
“Other people would be envious to get that many!! What are you making a face for?”  
“White Day means you have to give back something three times as expensive! I don’t even know some of these people!” He sat on his desk and shook his head when he put the bags down. “Some don’t say what class they’re from.”  
“I thought you were going to make a policy of not accepting any this year?”  
“I was…” He looked up at her. “…but you never know.”  
“About what?”  
“The person you like might actually give something and you’d miss it.”  
She sat on her brother’s desk and fumbled with her tie. “Does it really have to be on Valentine’s? I don’t get that part.”  
“That’s the way things are,” he answered and then closed the windows.  
“I don’t like that. Everyone makes a big fuss on decorations but it doesn’t mean anything.” She put the broom away. “I like clothes, but I take care that every detail is done with a lot of love.”  
“Is that why you didn’t give anything this year?”  
“What makes you say that? I give to my brother, my grandmother, my parents…”  
He laughed. “I’m glad you feel much better now.”  
“Why?”  
“You have been sighing ever since everyone went away.”  
“I didn’t want to ruin their fun by telling them what I told you. It’s not like I don’t like Valentine’s, but-“  
“Okay, I’ll shut my mouth, leave, and then you can give the chocolate to the person you really want to give it to.”  
She blinked at him. “Sometimes, you’re older than even me.”  
Nobu poked her on the forehead. “Miss Sumeragi, you seem to sometimes forget that we became really good friends ‘cause you rejected me. So I know you better than anyone here.”  
Lifting up his chin, he winked and left with the mounds of paperbags.  
  
Hokuto grinned and went to the window to close the last one. If only she picked someone a little bit more accessible…and yet, it wasn’t her to pick the easy road.   
When she sat back down on her seat, instead of fixing her things and leaving, she sat there quietly with her face in her arms. She felt so incredibly exhausted…  
  
It was evening when she woke up and because the campus was very safe and password accessible, no one would have been alarmed if she came out at this late time from the college part, though it was on the other side of Clamp Campus. Slowly, she collected her things and put them into her backpack.   
But when she walked down the staircase, she thought of nothing but of what to make for dinner since Subaru was arriving very late and surely followed by Sei-chan carrying whatever he bought for today for her brother.   
Somewhat feeling a little disappointed with today, she found herself running down and wanting to get home as soon as possible. She played as many games as she could and participated in a lot of the class events, but still, she felt like something was missing on that day though it wasn’t a terrible one.  
  
At the entrance of the high school, as she changed out of her indoor shoes, someone was sitting at the genkan. When she looked up to see who it was, she dropped her shoe along with her jaw.  
  
“You said I must try at least once, didn’t you?”  
  
There he was in front of her. Kakyou, the one she’d been looking for since that night, was right there before her very eyes!  
  
She didn’t know if she was going to laugh or cry. For the first time in her life, her mind was nothing but blank. She couldn’t find anything to say at all. She couldn’t even move.  
  
“I came to visit you this time.” He slowly turned his head and nodded his head slowly. Putting a small white box onto the wooden boards, he pushed it towards her direction. “I had heard that rest of the world celebrated it with the man giving the chocolate to the girl.”  
  
Without thinking, tears came to her eyes as she ran to hug him. On her knees, she hugged him not knowing what to think and he lifted one arm to hold her closely towards him.  
  
“Thank you” was all she could say to him.  
  
He said nothing at all, but the silence meant more than if he had talked at that moment. The arm that refused to let go told everything.  
  
“I want to go…” she whispered. “I want to go to the beach again. But this time, let’s have lots of people around. I don’t want it to be lonely there.”  
  
At that moment, the scene changed and they were looking at a sandy beach and she recognized Rainbow Bridge. But there was no such area in Odaiba.  
He sat there contentedly next to her, showing her the crowds of people who played volleyball on the sand, and those who walked on the promenade with their fluffy, small dogs. Though Kakyou couldn’t tell her this was the future, she was happy. Hokuto energetically looked at everyone, especially the ones swimming and the children running away from the small waves that came.  
  
She clung onto her treasured chocolate and finally opened it to reveal there was another box inside. When she opened it, she ate the rare, soft chocolate and had Kakyou eat also of what he’d given her.   
At the moment that she held her hand out for him to take it from her palm, a seagull swept it away somehow and they both looked at each other in surprise.   
  
Hokuto laughed so hard it filled all the sky with twinkles. She flew back, holding her stomach and the sand getting into her hair.  
  
She laughed until she woke herself up and her tears came out just as fast. It was still afternoon and she wiped her face to hide that she’d cried. Running down and out of the school, she went home feeling more dejected than ever.  
  
But at reaching her apartment, strangely, there was a white box. She looked around and knew it was useless to look for whomever left it, but she knew. Even if she felt it was someone else’s hand who delivered it to her…  
  
…she knew who gave it to her.  
  
When she got into her apartment, she slipped to her knees and held the box closely towards her and cried to herself. “Thank you…thank you for such a wonderful dream…  
  
I had missed you SO much…”  
 **  
Tsuzuki…/To be continued…**


	6. 7 / Violet – Anata no koto ga shitteru. (I know you.)

**Disclaimer – This title doesn’t belong to me but I love its characters too much to stop writing for it!!!  
  
**  
No matter how much she cried, shouted, and pleaded, this wasn’t even a nightmare. It was reality though everything felt so unreal.  
  
Unable to watch Subaru quietly as he slipped farther and farther away from this world and her, she felt the trees of Ueno calling out to her. It was as if a secret song were drawing her forth, but at the same time, she didn’t want anyone to control whatever she did or said.  
  
Yes, even now, and even if it included her brother being in a place she could no longer bring him back from. And so, she had made up her mind. In front of his mirror, she took out his clothes and hugged them in front of the mirror sobbing. They still had his scent from the last time he had worn them.  
Slowly and deliberately, she watched every detail as she pulled on the hakama and long, elegant sleeves. The violet of the robes shone brilliantly against the white.  
  
Her mind was racing with many things: Regrets, Prayers, and Wishes.  
 _  
I’m sorry Mom and Dad that I’m going before you and that this will cause you much sorrow.  
Grandmother, you knew, didn’t you? And yet you let us live so freely.  
_  
She walked out and passed Subaru. After hugging him one last time and kissing his forehead, she whispered, “No matter what, the choice of your heart and soul are what count in this world. Subaru, happiness is everywhere. Even now.”  
  
Smiled as widely as she could through the tears, she walked out to meet Seishirou-san, whom she knew was at the end of the cherry blossom lane waiting for her.  
  
The people on the streets looked at her and she did not waver.   
  
All she thought was of love. Every kind of love in this world.   
Subaru had fought with all he could because of that love and his kindness. And now, it was her turn to prove herself.  
  
When she reached Ueno, at the bottom of the stairs, she closed her eyes.   
_  
I believe that when two people are connected, no matter where they are, they can always feel each other’s thoughts. And I don’t know if you can clearly hear me or understand what I’m saying, but thank you.  
  
Thank you for being the photographer, the museum person, the convenience store clerk, the one playing the keyboard…  
  
…for being yourself. For revealing yourself to me.   
  
Surely, you have known me for a long time. Even longer than these people you appeared as because ever since I was a child, I felt someone watching me in my dreams and I thought they were my angel always protecting me.  
  
But I must tell you…I have always known it was you. Your eyes, no matter what color or what face they’re on, they will forever be the same. Your soul shines so clearly in all these different kinds of people you have seen but could not ever touch.  
  
And in each of us are these different people exist, and we have to believe that others will be the best that they possibly can be at that moment. Because I believe in humans and the compassion each one possesses,   
  
I’m sure, the future will be all right.  
_  
Taking one step at a time, she walked up the stone path as Kakyou was screaming ‘No’ over and over behind her. She turned around as if she felt he was holding her shoulders from going, but she continued to walk up gracefully with the white and purple trailing after her.  
 _  
Kakyou, I’m sure, we will meet again. Do not worry.  
I know who you truly are…I can find you once more.  
_  
  
  
Proudly, Hokuto curved her lips into a grin. “Hello, Sei-chan.”  
  
And Seishirou could read the fearlessness in her eyes, just as sure as if she knew the answers of life and its meanings. It was the same as when _she_ died as well.  
 _  
I don’t fear death because I know  
I am connected to your soul as you are to mine.  
_  
  
Her passion for what she believed in made her more and more beautiful as she slowly bled when his hand entered her chest.   
  
Blinking in and out of consciousness, she told Seishirou of her last request. At this, he smiled emptily when Hokuto held his face and tried her hardest to wipe the invisible tears away.   
_  
I trust you._  
  
When Seishirou’s mouth became a straight line,  
Subaru’s heart burst back into reality,  
and the light went out of Hokuto’s eyes.   
  
  
But the impression of her laughing lips remained so warm with life long afterwards...  
  
  
Kakyou’s head rested on the pavement helplessly as he searched in all of her past dreams to gather the last of her life to hold inside his soul.  
  
 ****  
Owari. / The End.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not really the romantic type, but I’ve been silent for a long while because many hard things happened. To remember those very happy memories that kept me going, I compressed them into this single fic. I want to tell more but at this time, I just want to say that I spent a whole night making this hoping that the feelings I carried could spread warmth to others.
> 
> As always, thank you for reading. ^_^v
> 
> Love always,  
> Miyamoto Yui
> 
> Some culture things:  
> Teien Museum – It really does exist and used to be one of the royal prince’s summer houses.  
> When Seishirou and Hokuto talk about sleeves – In the Heian period, one’s sleeves revealed your rank: The longer, the higher.  
> Sumidagawa – It is part of East Tokyo is very famous for its yearly fireworks as well as literary references.


End file.
